On January 26, AmCham Board held its semi-annual retreat to discuss the strategic direction for 2023. AmCham will continue to focus on fostering trade and investment between Latvia and the U.S., improving the business and investment climate and enhancing Latvia’s human capital. In addition, AmCham will continue to address tax policy for foreign investors in order to increase competitiveness and FDI. Sustainability, the digital economy, and greater social engagement will also be among the focus areas this year.
 

On January 26, AmCham held an online discussion on fostering a culture of philanthropy for a greater social impact. Joining were two experts Konrad Siwinski, Representative of Social Impact Alliance for CEE and Janis Taukacs, Partner at Sorainen who explained the current tax policy with regard to donations and listed some of the key barriers to greater social engagement of companies.

On January 25, AmCham held its first Business After-Hours event of 2023 discussing board-member liability and limitations. Members gained insight into the intricacies of being a board member, including the role's responsibilities, challenges, and obligations from members and hosts of the event Agris Bitāns, Senior Partner at Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns, and Thomas Marcadet, Senior Vice-President at Marsh.

On January 13, Martin Gauss, President and CEO of airBaltic, met with AmCham members and guests to share his insights about the future of airBaltic including issuing an IPO in 2024. airBaltic recently announced the addition of SpaceX’s “Starlink” internet connectivity system into the entire Airbus A220-300 fleet. To implement it, the company works on the required certification approval with the installation planned for later this year. 

On January 13, AmCham hosted a brainstorming session to discuss cross-sectoral perspectives on what can be done to improve Latvia’s image as an attractive FDI destination, along with awareness raising about FDI as a source for jobs, growth, knowledge transfer, and tax revenues. Guntars Krols, Partner of Strategy and Transactions at EY, moderated the session giving a short overview of the EY European Attractiveness Study.